It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here and I’ve been wanting to do a review of ‘The Hunger Games’ which I happened to see 3 times the first week it was out (I kind of liked it).

This has been dubbed the next Harry Potter or Twilight series, and it’s clearly lived up to the hype and made a killing at the box office! I’ve read some mixed reviews about both the movie and the book so decided I’d add my voice to the masses and write what I thought of it. This is one of the most accurate book to movies I’ve ever seen so pretty much anything said about one applies to the other.

First the warnings: obviously there is a good amount of killing, and this killing isn’t the typical adult on adult in the midst of battle, but kid on kid (ages 12-18 year olds). This obviously is not good and it’s not shown as good. To me its reminiscent of the Roman gladiators where certain groups of people were thrown into an arena to fight to the death (just like in this book).

Katniss is also quite a selfish teenager. Everything she does is to better her chance of survival. This isn’t really that abnormal, however, and she still cares for her family with all she has.

Now the good: both the book and movie are incredible! I bought the book last summer to just read for enjoyment but didn’t think I’d get into it. 6 days later I’d read all 3 books in the series. (yes it is a trilogy so get excited for the next 2 movies!)

As I said above, Katniss really does care for her family, and in the end Peeta. I also like that the book shows us the horrors of the human condition. As the saying goes, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That’s made quite clear in The Hunger Games with the Capitol exploiting children for entertainment. As Haymitch says in the movie, “It’s a TV show!” The people of the Capitol reap all the benefits of forcing those in the multiple Districts to work and then hold a drawing of children to compete in The Hunger Games every year. Quite an interesting use of power.

I think this is a good movie to see and discuss with friends and would be appropriate for anyone 16 and up.